Paso Robles man may have been killed to silence him

April 15, 2013

Paso Robles’ Victor Hugo Sanchez may have been murdered to prevent his testimony in an upcoming criminal trial — a trial that now probably will not happen.

Sanchez, 37, died from multiple bullet wounds Feb. 23 as he stood in a driveway near his Spring Street apartment. Neighbors comforted him as he died.

Investigators are convinced the killing was not random.

“We are not dealing with this as a drive-by shooting,” Paso Robles Police Lt. Ty Lewis said.

Friends, relatives, and an employer of Sanchez tell similar versions of a 2012 incident that may have been the motivation for his slaying.

Late last year, Sanchez was in a downtown Paso Robles bar, the Crooked Kilt (now known as Pappy McGregor’s Pub and Grill) when he got into a conversation with a young woman at the bar. She asked him to buy her a drink, and he did.

Shortly thereafter, Sanchez and the young woman left the saloon after she reportedly asked to go home with him. As the pair walked down a darkened roadway, two men materialized and attacked and robbed Sanchez. His arm broken, his head split open, Sanchez was hospitalized.

“He was beaten badly,” said Sanchez’ sister, Rita, who noted that Sanchez later said he “did not know” the men who had assaulted him.

One neighbor told KCOY reporter Leah Masuda the day Sanchez died, “He just picked up and recovered and moved on forward from (the attack), he had gone on as if nothing had happened, because that’s how he was.”

At least one of the men suspected of beating Sanchez ended up in San Luis Obispo County Jail after the incident. Authorities are not identifying the man or men, or giving a reason for the incarceration.

But employer Jay Silva said Sanchez had been receiving numerous death threats from unidentified persons regarding his testimony in possible future criminal proceedings against the robbery suspects.

Silva said he was told by a Paso Robles police officer that one of the robbery suspects was released from county lockup Friday, Feb. 22.

“And the next day Victor is dead,” Silva said.

“Yes, there was a mugging incident,” Lewis said. “However, we have no information that person was involved. But certainly we are looking at (them) as suspects possibly involved or linked to this homicide.”

Lewis declined to reveal the number of times Sanchez was shot, nor where the bullets hit the victim, saying the investigation is continuing. Investigators said earlier they do not consider the murder to be gang-related, and Sanchez was not thought to be involved in gang activity.

14 Comments

I certainly hope that Grand Dragons Niles & slowtime have a good supply of white robes with pointy
hats, and a load of 4″ x 4″ lumber for making the crosses they need to burn during the “Mississippi
Christmas Tree” decorating festivities.

You’re way off base. You must be a California high School graduate that learned the only politically correct evil people are KKK members and Hitler.

The only reason people are talking vigilante is because it appears that our Police Department has allowed this murderer in our community to walk. They knew who the prime suspect was at the time of the shooting and didn’t pick up the guy for questioning or ask the public’s help in finding him.

This homicide falls in the hands of our acting Police Chief, Robert Burton, who is also applying for the permanent Police Chief position. Paso, it looks like we’re doomed if Burton gets the job.

On the other hand, maybe he can find this perp and the known shooter for the drive by shooting at the liquor store that is still at large “Gangster sought in Paso Robles shooting”, but somehow I doubt it.

The Crooked Kilt is sounding like a bad place to hang out. Brian Brady celebrates his 21st birthday there, and then gets beaten up, knocked out and left on the railroad tracks where he is run over by a train. Firefighter John Mason beats the stuffing out of Jory Brigham in the bathroom of the SLO Crooked Kilt, leaving him with 17 facial fractures and permanent disabilities, and now this guy goes to the kilt, gets beaten up, and then later murdered.

It would be nice if the article elaborated why the upcoming criminal trial he was going to testify at will not happen. Did the DA drop the case? It seems like those charges need to be upgraded to Murder 1.

Bars don’t kill people, people kill people! What happened to Brian was horrible and should have never happened. What is even more disturbing is that he had been out that evening drinking with his parents and they left him there. I’m sorry but who takes their kid bar hopping and then leaves them to get home themselves knowing that they are intoxicated? ! I’m sure if that firefighter was drinking at the MoTav, something just as horrible would have happened there instead. And then this poor guy meets a barfly amd takes her home when he gets mugged?! How would this be the Kilts fault? There is a reason I don’t go to bars and it’s because nothing ever good will come from it.

The girl that was with him is a witness although I would imagine that she is terrified. She will need lots of protection if she agrees to testify and might even need the witness protection program. What a horrible position for her to be in, that is if she is innocent in all this. I sure hope the case isn’t dropped, we can’t have people like this on the streets, it’s enough to make people want to take the law into our own hands.

She is the key to finding answers! Was she part of the assault/robbery? What happened to her during and after this event took place? I didn’t see any information pertaining to her other than she accompanied him from the bar. To me this is a huge missing link in the case.
The case should go forward and those responsible for the assault and subsequent murder of an innocent man come to face justice.

I can certainly understand the frustration, but that’s a very slippery slope when you start talking about vigilante justice. Why not watch a Charles Bronson movie and let the Paso Robles Police and the SLO County District Attorney’s Office handle the dispensing of justice.

Well, the DA’s Office is the one who cancelled the trial, and the Paso Police didn’t pick up the prime suspect or put his picture in the newspaper for the public to help find him, so I think, for the time being, both have failed the victim and his family.

Killing the victim of a crime to try and cover up a crime is a capital offense and deserving of the death penalty.
Every one of the people involved in this, from the woman in the bar, to the two guys who jumped and beat him to the animals that killed him in his own driveway should all be taken out and shot in the back of the head. Society does not need animals like this roaming the streets.
Criminal gangs are the scourge of decent society and they need to be eradicated. And if vigilantism is the only way to do it, then perhaps it should be considered

Codling of Criminals and easy prison life is our problem. These crooks have nothing to fear. Prison is easy for them and they get to see their buddies there. Capital punishment is a joke because the condemned are not executed. Our only solution is swift and harsh punishment for serious crimes. Oftentimes, there is more punishment for some victimless misdemeanors than serious person crimes. Public hangings should be the norm.

WOW, I’m very angry too and want these criminals caught but I’m not ready for any public hangings (by the neck or any other body parts).

It seems to me that if we had solitary confinement for prisoners that were doing life, it would be far less costly than allowing them to hang out with their friends and cause more trouble in the “joint”. Solitary confinement for life would be a terrible punishment and would probably be a greater deterrent than the “so called” death penalty bogus threat, in my opinion.